Eckoh PLC expands business with Ideal Shopping

The payment product provider has won a five-year deal to expand its links with Ideal Shopping Direct

Eckoh will extend the Ideal Shopping service across web, phone, email, social media and web chat channels

Call centre technology and payment security group Eckoh PLC (LON:ECK) has won a five-year deal to expand its business with Ideal Shopping Direct Ltd.

Eckoh, which already manages the distribution of calls into Ideal's UK and overseas centres, is expanding its service to include web, phone, email, social media and web chat channels.

The group first signed a contract with Ideal to provide its hosted interactive voice response system in 2005 and extended it in 2014 to cover its new Ideal Shopping business in the US.

It has already begun work on the latest deal and will roll it out in stages during 2016. Private equity group Blackstone bought Ideal last September.

Eckoh has announced several new deals since November last year, including the extension of its business with an unidentified leading global financial services company last month.

The company is aiming to expand the range of call centre-related services it offers to include latest-generation technologies as well as incorporating its flagship secure payments service.

Eckoh’s patented CallGuard technology, which allows users to key in their own card details whilst connected to a centre agent, prevents human access to personal information.

It is part of a growing drive to offer customers a comprehensive, "one-stop shop" service.

Eckoh's chief executive Nik Philpot said: "We have been providing services to Ideal Shopping for over a decade and during that time both companies have evolved in size, market reach and offer.

"Ideal Shopping recognised Eckoh's ability to provide a full omni-channel service for its customers in the UK and US, and has entrusted us with this important part of its contact centre transformation."

The company is not changing its profit forecasts as a result of the deal but said it would further underpin its financial performance for the year ending 31 March 2016 and beyond.

Shares in Eckoh rose 0.75p, or 1.7%, to 45.25p in early London trading.

Eckoh is a leading international provider of secure payment and customer contact technology.

We specialise in assisting organisations to secure their card-not-present (CNP) transactions. CNP payments are made over the phone, web or mobile without face-to-face contact or verification. Each year we process over £800 million in card payments for clients in accordance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). As a PCI DSS Level One Compliant Service Provider, more organisations every year trust Eckoh to protect their contact centre and customers from payment card fraud and breaches.

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